A collection of four pictures, allegedly showing former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in provocative attire, has gone viral on social media, claiming to be real images.
- Users have mentioned the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Parliament and actor-director Kangana Ranaut while posting images on X, asking why she didn't portray this aspect of the former PM in her recently launched film, "Emergency," a biographical on Gandhi.
The claim: "I trust @KanganaTeam highlighted the prostitution aspect of Indira Gandhi in her propaganda film. How she amused KGB agents from Russia and the Soviet Union in bed. Everything is referenced in a book titled "The Mitrokhin- The KGB in the world(sic)."
(Archives of similar claims can be found here and here.)
Is the claim true?: No, the claim is false.
- These images are generated using artificial intelligence (AI) tools.
What we found: At first, we went through the book mentioned in the claim, "The Mitrokhin Archive II The KGB in the World."
- We downloaded the book from a free E-library and went through the portions about India. The book accounts experiences of Vasili Nikitich Mitrokhin, a former Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti (KGB) archivist who went to the United Kingdom after the fall of the Soviet Union.
- In Chapter 17, titled, "The Special Relationship with India. Part 1: The Supremacy of the Indian National Congress," it mentioned Russia and India relations along with former Russian security agency KGB influence.
Here is a preview from the book.
(Source: The Mitrokhin Archive II The KGB in the World/Screenshot)
- The portion about India spans across two chapters however, mentions nothing about Mrs Gandhi's personal relationship with the Russians.
- In the index section, there is a portion for the illustrations. In that section, it shows an image of a portrait of Mrs Gandhi with two men posing alongside.
- It noted, "An episode in the prolonged charm offensive against Indira Gandhi. Viktor Cherkashin of the New Delhi residency (second from the right) at the presentation of a portrait of Mrs Gandhi by the Soviet artist Ilya Glazunov (next to Cherkashin)." (sic.)
Here is preview of the portrait.
(Source: The Mitrokhin Archive II The KGB in the World/Screenshot)
- None of the viral images were featured in this book.
- We ran a Google reverse image on some of them and found that they were uploaded on Deviant Art, a digital social platform for artists and art lovers where users submit thousands of unique artworks daily, ranging from paintings and sculptures to digital creations, pixel art, movies, and anime.
- A user named "HerSofterSide" uploaded these images of Mrs Gandhi in May 2023.
Here is a preview of the user's profile.
(Source: Deviant Art)
AI-dectection websites: We ran the image on two AI-detection websites such as Hive Moderation and Sightengine AI. Both platforms declared all images as AI-generated.
Conclusion: AI-generated images of former PM Indira Gandhi showing her in a provocative manner have gone viral as real.
(This story was originally published by The Quint, and republished by NDTV as part of the Shakti Collective)
